Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Programming

Deborah Sloboda

Research Involves

Perinatal programming

Reproduction

Metabolism

Dr. Sloboda's laboratory investigates the impact of poor maternal nutrition on the developing fetus and how it influences the risk of non-communicable disease later in life. Her experimental studies investigate the effects of maternal nutrient manipulation combined with a changing postnatal diet on pubertal onset, ovarian development and maturation, metabolic function and the role of underlying epigenetic processes.

Dr. Sloboda's laboratory also seeks to understand the relationship between maternal nutrition and offspring phenotype, investigating how maternal nutritional history influences placental development and how altered placental development and function contributes to altered offspring phenotype. Her recent work has expanded to include circadian biology and the understanding of how the intrauterine environment influences circadian regulation in the offspring.